Quote of the Day- Lars von Trier

Today, we begin our series of quotes from famous Scandanavians with a quip from the provoacative, innovative and highly controversial Danish film director Lars von Trier, who has directed plenty of subersive films, usually with over political themes, including "Dogville" with Nicole Kidman and more recently "Anti-Christ."

The later film about a married couple with a fairly messed up, kinky relationship (to put it mildly) starred Willem Dafoe and the great Anglo-French actress/singer Charlotte Gainsbourg.

We are highly jealous of her long-time romantic partner actor/director Yvan Attal, whom she apparenly has never officially married. The couple had their second child on July 16, just five days before Gainsbourg turned 40.

Here is the quote from von Trier, which seems ironic, since one would never accuse him of modesty:

"I grew up in a culturally radical home, where strong emotions were forbidden."

SIDEBAR: As the six people who regularly read this blog know, we have a series that deals with countries that were once republics of the Soviet Union. Tomorrow, we are hoping to profile yet another one of these countries, perhaps Tajikistan, unless we've covered them before.

But, we learned today from the public radio show "The World" (we were alas not able to listen to the broadcast) that the Chu River Valley, which borders Kazakhstan and Krgyzstan, two former Soviet republics with mostly Muslim population that we have featured so far in the series, happens to ironically be a vast haven for marijuana growth!

Ten Films That Might Be Worth Watching on DVD

Here are twn films, most of which have been recently released on dvd, that might well be worth your time:

1) "Zazie dans le metro" (1960. France. dir-Louis Malle). I must profess that I forget if I've seen this film or not, just as I forgot Bill Clinton, the only president I forgot to name on mentalfloss.com presidents' names quiz earlier today. But, Malle was a great director, especially during the French New Wave years.

2) "Blue Valentine" (2010. dir-Derek Cianfrance). I was actually in the minority of 'haters' on this one (well, I would give the film two and a half stars). But, this dark romance with Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling might merit a second look for those of us who saw it in cinemas, and certainly it is worth a first look for those who have yet to see the film.

3) "The Ilusionist" (2010. France. dir-Slyvain Chomet). This looks like a good animated film.

4) "Mickey One" (1965. dir-Arthur Penn. With Warren Beatty)- I saw this film several years ago at the Virginia Film Festival with Penn, who has since died, in attendance. It is noteable for being the first pairing of Penn and Beatty who would go on to work together on "Bonnie and Clyde."

5) "Cedar Rapids" (2011. dir-Miquel Arteta). This is a fairly good satire of convention life on the road; it is, of course, set in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

6) "Cul de Sac" (1966. dir-Roman Polanski). It appears that all of us cinephiles may actually get to finally see this Polanski film after all these years, perhaps!

7) "Life During Wartime" (2009. dir-Todd Solondz). I am an unabashed admirer of Todd Solondz films, even in the rare times when they don't work. This is not his very best film, but it's great dark humor that makes the Coen Brothers' "Fargo" look like "Bambi."

8) "Potiche" (2010. France. dir-Francois Ozon). Actually, I had nil interest in seeing this film until I found out it was a period piece set in the 1970s, the decade I find most interesting, perhaps because I was born in 1970.

9) "The Wiz" (1978. dir-Sidney Lumet). Why this supposedly silly movie?, you may ask. Well, the Lincoln Center in New York has been showing retro-screenings of Sidney Lumet's films since the veteran director died earlier this year. It's bound to be better than "Rubber," a new bad movie about a killer tire.

10) "Takva" (2006. Turkey. dir-Ozer Kiziltan). I have been disappointed with both the limited number of Turkish films that have been released in the United States and the artistic quality of these films. But, aside from Nuri Bilge Ceylan's work (the director of "Distant"), this film about Islamic fundamentalism in Turkey (the film was made by secularists) is perhaps the most remarkable Turkish film one can find on Netflix.

Quote of the Day- Agnes Varda

Today, our quote of the day comes from the great French film director Agnes Varda, who turned 83 earlier this year.

Varda is best known for her films "Cleo from 5 to 7" (1962) and "Vagabond" (1985). She also directed the documentary "The Beaches of Agnes," which was made in 2008.

Here is her quote:

"Hands are the tool of the painter, the artist."

And, we are happy to report that we have finally passed the 100,000 hits mark! Even though, my other blog "The Daily Vampire" (http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com) is seven or eight times as popular, this blog, which will become six years old on Sept. 21st is still my proverbial pride and joy.

The Next Ten Films in My Netflix Que

Just in case you were wondering, Humpty Dumpty is for Eliot Spitzer; the Norwegian fiag pin is for the Norwegian horror film "Hidden." We wanted something more flamboyant for the Norwegian film, but oh well!

Here is the list; I have yet to see any of these films yet:

1. "No One Killed Jessica." (2011. Dir-Raj Kumar Gupta. India)

2. "Angel's Fall." (2005. Dir- Semih Kaplangul. Turkey).

3. "Hidden." (2009. Dir- Pal Oie. Norway)

4. "Irreversible" (2002. Dir- Gaspar Noe. France)

5. "A Tale of Springtime." (1990. Dir- Eric Rohmer. France)

6. "Les Bonnes Femmes" (1960. Dir- Claude Chabrol. France).

7. "The Baader Meinhof Complex." (2008. Dir- Uli Edel. Germany.)

8. "Marwencol" (2010. doc. Dir- Jeff Malmberg).

9. "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer." (2010. doc. Dir- Alex Gibney).

10. "Dogtooth." (2009. Dir- Giorgis Lanthios. Greece).